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Historical Fiction April 2018
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| Bachelor Girl by Kim van AlkemadeWhat happens: In 1939, Colonel Jacob Ruppert, the millionaire owner of the New York Yankees, dies and leaves a substantial bequest to an obscure actress. But why?
Read it for: long-buried secrets revealed through alternating first-person accounts; a vivid evocation of 1920s and '30s New York City.
Author alert: Kim van Alkemade, author of the bestselling Orphan Number 8, returns with another moving and richly detailed novel that shifts between time periods and perspectives. |
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| White Houses by Amy BloomStarring: First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and journalist Lorena "Hick" Hickok, whose decades-long love affair profoundly influences their lives and careers.
Further reading: Susan Quinn's Eleanor and Hick: The Love Affair that Shaped a First Lady, an engaging dual biography of the couple; Kelly O'Connor McNees' Undiscovered Country, another biographical novel that examines their relationship. |
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| The Cloister by James CarrollWhat it's about: In 12th-century France, philosopher Peter Abelard embarks on a forbidden (and ultimately doomed) affair with his brilliant pupil, Héloïse. Centuries later, a priest and a Holocaust survivor bond over shared intellectual interests.
Read it for: a thought-provoking meditation on love, faith, and forgiveness.
You might also like: Iain Pears' The Dream of Scipio, another novel of love and philosophy that links characters across time periods. |
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| The Sparsholt Affair by Alan HollinghurstWhat it's about: a scandal involving four Oxford chums, whose repercussions will still be felt decades later.
Introducing: narrator Freddie Green; aspiring artist Peter Coyle; dilettante Evert Dax; and David Sparsholt, the engineering student who becomes the object of the trio's mutual obsession.
About the author: Alan Hollinghurst wrote the 2004 Man Booker Prize-winning novel The Line of Beauty. |
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| I Was Anastasia by Ariel LawhonStarring: Two women -- Anna Anderson and Anastasia Romanov -- who may or may not be the same person.
Want a taste? "Am I truly Anastasia Romanov? A beloved daughter. A revered icon. A Russian grand duchess. Or am I an impostor? A fraud. A liar. The thief of another woman's legacy."
You might also like: John Boyne's The House of Special Purpose, which also imagines Anastasia's fate. |
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| The Pagan Lord by Bernard CornwellStarring: Uhtred of Bebbanburg, whose efforts to reclaim his ancestral Northumbrian estate places him in the path of invading Norsemen.
Why you might like it: This fast-paced, action-packed novel also offers a richly detailed depiction of a 10th-century Britain riven by conflict between Saxons and Danes, pagans and Christians.
Media buzz: Bernard Cornwell's popular Saxon Stories books are the basis of the television series The Last Kingdom. |
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Rebel Queen
by Michelle Moran
Based on the life of: Queen Lakshmi of India's Kingdom of Jhansi who raises male and female armies to defend her beloved realm.
Why you might like it: This novel features a courageous female lead, richly detailed setting, and a dramatic storyline.
For fans of: India Edghill, Philippa Gregory, and Kate Quinn.
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Gates of Fire : an Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae
by Steven Pressfield
What it's about: Chronicles the battle of three hundred Spartan warriors against a huge force of Persian soldiers in 480 B.C. against Sparta and its extraordinary culture.
What sets it apart: Pressfield's in-depth research skills show it the incredible historical, ethnographic, and military details woven into the engaging story.
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Sword of Honor : or, Hours of the Dog
by David Kirk
What it's about: Great samurai Musashi Miyamoto travels to Kyoto for a reckoning after a price is put on his head and falls in love with a blind witch.
Why you might like it: The elegant language, beautiful descriptions of the landscape, and gritty fight scenes will transport you to seventeenth-century Japan.
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| Hawk Quest by Robert LyndonWhat it's about: In 1072 England, Frankish mercenary Vallon embarks on an unusual quest: obtaining four white gyrfalcons in order to ransom a nobleman's son from an Anatolian prison.
What sets it apart: Hawk Quest takes its characters far beyond the boundaries of their homelands, revealing the geographical and political complexity of medieval European civilization.
For fans of: the well-researched yet exciting historical adventure stories of Bernard Cornwell or Conn Iggulden. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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